Sheldon Souray went from total minor league obscurity to appearing on the radar of the New York Rangers this week.

The Oilers’ shunned $5.4M blueliner was loaned earlier this season to the AHL Hershey Bears, after negative off-season comments about Edmonton GM Steve Tambellini and the Oilers front office.

Rangers’ GM Glen Sather was seen scouting Souray at a recent game, obviously looking to bolster the blue shirt’s blue line, as his club heads into the NHL stretch drive.

Obtaining Souray (3-8-11) would cost any club half of his current salary, in the range of $2.7M, prorated to the end of the season, plus half of his 2011-12 salary.

With the NHL’s 2010-11 Trade Deadline (Monday, Feb. 28) fast approaching, expect Tambellini to hold on to his big blue-line asset with the intention of creating interest from multiple clubs in search of a D-man with a blistering point shot to enhance their PP heading into the post-season.

If Tambellini can deliver a third round draft pick for the Edmonton-area born blueliner, he’ll be a magician, of sorts, for turning a no-win situation with a disgruntled player who went public into a story with a happy ending for both player and franchise.